Love Thaws, Always
by ouatevilregal8
Summary: She was sorry. Sorry that she lived in fear all of her life, sorry that she allowed it to consume her. She regretted fearing to trust them when she had the chance. But most of all, she regretted her actions that her fear had caused. What if the final scene in 4x10 "Shattered Sight" went just a bit differently. One-Shot


**Author's Note: So this a little something I wanted to write since the outcome of 4x10 the "Shattered Sight" episode. I'm not going to lie, I'm actually really tired of the writers just killing off their villains when they are done using them. And though some might argue that the Snow Queen's death was in a different light than the others, I still wanted to see what it would have been like if she had had the chance to live. So here is how I see that particular scene going.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own OUAT or the rights to the characters.**

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><p>She clutched the letter close to her chest. The paper was old, scratching roughly against her skin, but she didn't care. She knew the truth; she was in fact loved. "Oh, Gerta," she cried softly, just wishing in her heart that it was not the paper that she was embracing but her sister in the flesh. What she wouldn't do to see her again, to also hold her hands, to apologize for what she had done, what she couldn't control within herself.<p>

Ingrid glanced up, her crystal blue eyes instantly connecting with one niece and then the other. How could she not see it before? Why could she not understand?

"What have I done?" she question to herself with a tiny whimper. As she stood quickly and stepped past them, she said, "I need to reverse this."

"You can't," Anna quickly stood and replied. "The only way is if you-"

"I know." She turned back and looked to Anna with a smile. _You're a part of our family no matter what._ The younger girl's voice echoed again in her ears. _And family never gives up on each other_. She really was like her mother, the spitting image of her too. "I'm sorry," she finally said.

"Aunt Ingrid, please," Elsa begged. "There has to be another way. You'll die."

"But there isn't. And that's okay." The woman shook her head and gave them a smile, true and genuine. It had been far too long since she had smiled like that. "I became a monster, not because of my powers, but because of what I let them do to me." She began to feel the power overcoming her, the curse of shattered sight surging within her, battling with her own will and power. She knew that the only way was to sacrifice herself, for even she didn't have that kind of power to survive it. "I truly wish I could have gotten to know you girls. I… never realized the family that I had in you until it was too late."

"Please," she watched her youngest niece cry, "we can fix this! You _can_ know us. And we can help you to change. We don't believe that you're a monster."

She was sorry. Sorry that she lived in fear all of her life, sorry that she allowed it to consume her. She regretted fearing to trust them when she had the chance. But most of all, she regretted her actions that her fear had caused. She had become the monster that she had tried so hard not to be; she allowed it to break her. Now, though she knew it might not redeem her of all of her wrongdoings, she at least knew that it would protect them. She owed them, she owed Gerta and Helga, that much. Ingrid lifted her head to the sky and allowed the power to take her as she intended. She was scared, but she was ready.

"You…" She glanced at the small trinkets in her hands. "You deserve your memories. You girls are _so _special. Never forget that." Instantly, she felt a surge of pain within her chest. This was it, the end. She held her arms out. All she could do now was accept her fate.

But suddenly, she felt something far different from what she expected. A set of arms wrapped around her neck, a chin rested on her shoulder, and a voice whispered softly in her ear, "We love you, Aunt Ingrid." It wasn't long before a second set of arms came around her, embracing her fully.

Ingrid opened her eyes and lowered her chin. There were her two nieces, one on each side of her, hugging her warmly. With shaking hands and tearful eyes, she cupped the girls' heads lovingly. In a gentle whisper, she replied, "I love you too."

With that, there was a powerful burst that emerged from the trio. Something that not even Ingrid had imagined could happen. True love; it thaws. Even the most powerful of curses could be broken by it. She quickly backed away and stared at the two girls before her, her hands lingering on their cheeks. Their faces were damp with tears, eyes bloodshot. But in a sudden moment, the crying turned into laughter.

Ingrid pulled the two girls close to her once more, holding them closely. "Thank you," she spoke softly.

"Well," Anna replied, "I told you that we weren't giving up on you."

Again, she laughed, wrapping her arms around the girls' shoulders and leaning her head against Anna's. She knew that this wasn't the end. She would need to learn, change, and atone for her mistakes. She needed to learn how to trust again and how to control herself in moments of great emotional stress. It wasn't going to be easy.

But at least in this moment she knew for certain that she wouldn't be alone in doing it. She would have them. And truly, they were the only happy ending that she had ever wanted. A family, one that wouldn't fear her, wouldn't see her as a monster, and believed in her; a family that would only see her for the true person she was.

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><p><strong>Please let me know how you liked it. Short and sweet, but this is something more along the lines of what I would have liked to see. In my opinion, it connects a lot more with Frozen's ideas than what OUAT did. <strong>


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